(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paper feeder for use with various types of electrophotographic devices including facsimiles, printers and copying machines, in which paper sheets stacked on a paper feed table are picked up one after another for feeding, starting with a top sheet.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, in order to meet the demand for higher feeding capacity which has been growing with the increase in the speed of the printing process, a paper feeder in which paper sheets are replenished in the following manner is widely used for feeding paper sheets to such an electrophotographic device as mentioned above.
For replenishment of paper sheets, the paper feed table, which is housed in the paper feeder and can be lifted or lowered with paper sheets stacked thereon, is firstly lowered to the lowest position and pulled forwards with the help of sliding rails or similar devices. Then, paper sheets are loaded onto the paper feed table thus pulled out. After the loading, the paper feed table is pushed back with the help of the sliding rails and housed in the paper feeder.